Contents
=> Anniversary and New Format
=> How Do You Translate ‘Remont’?
=> “Fix it” gap-fill activity
=> Complete Account of 3-Year Profits by “ETs in Russia”
=> Answers to “Fix it” gap-fill activity
=> In the Next (Nastya’s) Issue
=> Unsubscribe

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Anniversary and New Format
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On September 1st, 2001, the first issue of “ETs in Russia and Elsewhere” appeared. This issue, #67, marks 3 years of publication.

It also marks a change in format. “ETs” will no longer be sent through Yahoogroups (but thanks you, Yahoo, for 3 years of service).

Now the “ETs in Russia” headquarters is at kevinmccaughey.com. There are three major benefits to this:

1. You will not receive any advertisements.
2. “ETs in Russia” will look better and cleaner since it will be easier to format.
3. You’ll have simple, free access to ALL issues in the “ETs in Russia” archive. (The full archive will be available around September 25).

This is the first sending with the new format, so if you can’t read it, or if there’s some extra strange text, let me know.

Of course “ETs in Russia” will still be free. (Until some millionaire teacher decides to finance it).

Finally, don’t despair in these tough times. Make the little things count.

Kevin McCaughey, Editor
Sept 8th, 2004
Saratoga, CA

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How Do You Translate ‘Remont’?
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The word REMONT is found in Russian, Polish, and several other languages. And it’s found often.

Usually it’s rendered in English as “repairs” or “remodeling.” But REMONT is a big idea, a blanket term used for everything from fixing a shoe to remodeling a football stadium.

In English, instead of REMONT you might use the following words…

You can REPAIR things like shoes, kitchen pipes, cars, and eyeglasses — things that are broken or not functioning. You repair in order to get physical things working again.

You REMODEL, not so much to get things working, but to make things look different, nicer or newer. Thus you usually remodel an office, a house, an apartment, a restaurant.

You can FIX the same things you repair, but fix is a tiny bit broader and more conversational. You can also fix your hair, your make-up, or a leaky roof.

REFURBISH means to make bright, clean, or fresh again. Which is kind of what you do when you remodel and renovate. Nowadays the word is used often for computers with an added new component.

You RESTORE an old painting or a historic building, the goal being to bring it back to its pristine form at the time it was built. People also try to restore ruined or polluted land to its natural state.

When you RENOVATE, you give something new vigor, you make it new again. This is usually for buildings (yes, similar to remodeling). Renovate often collacates with the word “home.”

The idea of REMONT, of course, is bigger than any of the above English words. As soon as a shop finishes “remodeling,” for instance, it will open again. “Remodeling” implies a finite period. “Remont,” however, seems to be untroubled by time. A “REMONT” sign can hang on a door for years, and to ask too many questions about it is an exercise in futility.

As Olivia Ward writes, remont is “an explanation in itself, unyielding and unchangeable.”

Because of REMONT’s extra meaning, English speakers who live in Russia
quickly incorporate the word into their own English. They say, “We can’t go to that cafe; they’ve got remont.” Or “They’re remonting the stairs, so be careful.”

Perhaps, like the Russian words “dacha,” glasnost,” and “czar,” for which there are no satisfactory equivalents, REMONT will make its way into the lexicon
of world English.

Words are like people; they seem driven to cross borders. And, like people again, they cross even when forbidden or discouraged. We may as well welcome wayfarers of both kinds.

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Fix It - Gap-Fill Activity
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Choose from the following “Fix-It” words and decide which go in the blanks.
All the sentences are authentic, meaning they were pulled from the internet. Sometimes two of the words may work. Discuss the different possibilities.

FIX REMODEL REPAIR RENOVATE RESTORE

1. The roofer came yeterday and ________________ the roof, I think. I’ll you when we have the next rain storm!!

2. It makes no sense at all to close the whole resort just to _______________ the restaurant.

3. In the past, surgeons ________________ broken bones by grafting human or animal bones under extreme high temperature.

4. I received her antique treasure chest … but I noticed right away that… the top was warped and discolored. …. I have to do something to _______________ it’s original beauty!

5. Egypt announced plans on Sunday [Nov. 26, 2000] to _________________ one of the world’s oldest Christian monasteries.

Answers after “Complete Account…”

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Complete Account of 3-Year Profits by “ETs in Russia”
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Answers to “Fix It - Gap-Fill Activity”
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1. The roofer came yeterday and fixed the roof, I think. I’ll tell you when we have the next rain storm!!
(”Repaired” is just as good. Clearly, with the mention of rain, we are interested in “repair” rather than making new or better looking (remodeling, renovation, restoration).

2. It makes no sense at all to close the whole resort just to remodel the restaurant.
(”Renovate” works fine too. “Repair” and “fix” are possible, but they usually refer to something broken. Is the whole restaurant broken?)

3. In the past, surgeons repaired broken bones by grafting human or animal bones under extreme high temperature…
(Sound strange? But “repair” is used for broken things. “Fix” can work too.fine.)

4. I received her antique treasure chest … but I noticed right away that… the top has been warped and discolored. …. I have to do something to restore its original beauty!
(”Restore” is best. It’s the idea of bringing back the beauty. Why can’t you renovate? You can renovate/restore the chest, but you can’t renovate the beauty.)

5. Egypt announced plans on Sunday [Nov. 26, 2000] to renovate one of the world’s oldest Christian monasteries. (”Restore” works just as well here).

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In the Next Issues
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#68 about September 22nd:
2 activities inspired by correspondences with the inspirational Anastasia Shiryaeva, 3rd-year English Student at Far Eastern State U, Vladivostok

#69 about October 6th:
A List of Language Learning Strategies
& Some Riddles

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Copyright 2004 Kevin McCaughey & I.M. Poosheesty